DA CANDIDATE QUESTIONS NEW RULE BY BOSS

District Attorney E[dward] Michael McCann yesterday issued a new policy for his office to follow in the event of apparent excessive use of force by police officers during or following an arrest. Rather than have complaints investigated days or weeks later, the DA's ruling calls for his employees to interview arrestees within hours of the incident.
The new rule was prompted by the acquittal of some rogue officers in the Frank Jude, Jr. beating case.
As sensible as the rule might seem at first glance, the new measure does have a detractor in John Chisholm, the Milwaukee County prosecutor who hopes to succeed the retiring McCann.
"That's Mike for you," Chisholm said with a hint of exasperation Wednesday April 19th at a fundraiser held on his behalf. He credited McCann with an earnest, well-meaning idea, adding, "but look at it this way. People who have been arrested have the right to counsel. Do you want an assistant district attorney to interview them before their own attorney does?"
Chisholm says he agrees with McCann that such investigations should be made promptly, and says he is in contact with state officials to see if the Department of Justice might handle these incidents, should they occur.
The fundraiser, held at Club Havana, 789 N. Jefferson St., was sponsored by John Budzinski and John Piette and was organized by Det. Mark Harms of the Milwaukee Police Department.
Among the attendees were Sheriff candidate Vince Bobot (on his way to the Bell Ambulance Party); Jeffrey B. Norman, the Milwaukee detective who wants to be a Municipal Court Judge; Andrew Zeiger, who is an attorney; Matt Robbins, Esq., Ald. Bob Bauman, plotting his next move in the Connector debate ("what debate?" Bauman asked. "They haven't released any information to debate!"); and others too numerous to mention including Barb Candy, minding the till; and Molly Christofferson, who is managing Chisholm's campaign.
[Update: April 9th 2007 -- Molly Christofferson's political career is now kaput, since she was busted for stealing money from a law firm to pay off a drug debt and to buy crack. She's under a $3,000 bond, and an absolute sobriety order. Also, the website of Common Council President Willie Hines still lists Christofferson as his legislative assistant. -- Ed.]

(Molly's dad Bill Christofferson, who handled David Clarke in the past, extracted from Chisholm a promise not to "pull a Clarke," but to support democratic candidates if he wanted Christofferson's help running as a democrat for a partisan office such as district attorney. Chisholm asented.)
Although district attorney candidates usually run on a law and order theme, Chisholm is focusing on revamping the office, which McCann has held since 1967. Specifically, he mentioned removing non-violent offenders from the system at the front end -- right at the station house, in fact, where they could be assessed and referred to treatment programs. A pilot project is already in place for misdemeanor offenses, he said. Chisholm says he has received support from community groups like the Benedict Center and others for this proposal.
He cited Det. Harms as "the type of police officer who represents the best in this county. He is a county prosecutor because he is working with people in the county solving problems at the lowest level -- at the street level."
Chisholm said Harms and many other members of his department and the District Attorney's office had been committed to community policing "long before anybody heard about Frank Jude."
But, he cautioned, "in order to hold ourselves accountable we will have to modernize this office."
Just in case he didn't sound quite enough like a politician, Chisholm ended with these words which removed all doubt: "I love this job, I love this city. I want to make this city a better place to live."
[Note to candidate: next time, substitute "county" for "city."]
--Michael Horne

M&I FORGETS DIRECTOR; RESENDS PROXY

[A Milwaukeeworld exclusive]
By Michael Horne


The Marshall & Ilsley Corporation [MI] spent $53 million last year on "professional services," which apparently included some sloppy legal work on the preparation of its Proxy Statement for the 2006 Annual Meeting of shareholders to be held on April 25, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. at the Pabst Theater.
The Milwaukee company, which operates the M&I banks, issued a supplement April 7th, long after its 17,463 shareholders of record had received their proxies (dated March 16th) and voting slips, which were also reissued. The company had paid a fee of $16,500 plus "administrative costs and out-of-pocket expenditures" to the firm of Morrow & Co. for the initial proxy solicitation.
According to the supplement, "John W. Daniels was inadvertently omitted from the list of independent directors of the Company on page 12 of the Proxy Statement. ... Mr. [Robert A.] Schaefer, who was included in the list, retired from the Company's Board of Directors last year."
Daniels, whose term on the board expires in April, 2008, is a Partner and member of the executive committee of Quarles & Brady, a Milwaukee law firm that receives a good share of M&I's millions in professional service expenditures as fees for such legal services as preparing accurate proxies to submit to shareholders, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Stock Exchange and regulatory officials of the six states in which the bank has offices.
Won't we have a good chuckle about that Tuesday morning at the Pabst? Cookies and pastries will be served.

4/20

4/20

Well here it is, 4/20 already, and by my count this spring, now a month old, has yielded only one fine day, and that was last Friday afternoon.

However, the weather forecast says today will be a pleasant one with a High pressure system bringing relief.

4/20 was the day two years ago that the White House issued press release 2004/04/20040420-2 – that’s a lot of 4/20s! The release was about an address by President Bush reminding Americans of the importance of maintaining our foreign entanglement in Iraq. He told us that the torture chambers and rape rooms of Saddam Hussein would be replaced. We didn’t know then with what they would be replaced; the picture is a little clearer now.

Whoa! Didn’t mean to bum you out on such a nice day. Anyway, I’ve got some stuff to do, and I should get back to you a bit later.

If I’m lucky, I plan to get out of work a little bit early – say 4:20 – and go bowling.

--Michael Horne

GROUNDBREAKING EVENT AT COLUMBIA ST MARY'S

In what has become a rather routine event at the various campuses of Columbia St. Mary's Hospital, a groundbreaking was held Wednesday, April 19th at the facility's lakefront Milwaukee Campus at the terminus of E. North Avenue.
The most recent of a spate of building projects underway, the Water Tower Medical Commons, named for the nearby 1871 landmark that dominates the area, will be a 40,000-square-foot Cancer Center when completed in 2008.
The commons is but one part of the $417 million, 670,000 square foot expansion of the hospital founded on the site in 1845 by the Sisters of Mercy, a religious order affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.
The master of ceremonies for the event was Leo P. Brideau, President and CEO of Columbia St. Mary's, who did his best to keep the crowd in the rented white tent on message.
The problem is, Brideau wants to talk hospital, but everybody else just wants to talk about the Whole Foods Market under construction a block away in another component of the massive construction project, he said.
The groundbreaking was light on politicians -- none came. (Just wait until the ribbon-cutting. Then you'll have to fight them off!)
The event was doubly blessed -- quite literally.
Chaplain Gloria Krasno of the Jewish Chaplaincy Program of Milwaukee said that the day was one of significance in the Hebrew calendar, and was an auspicious time for work involving shovels.
As she spoke, a dozen golden shovels glistened under a bright but cool sun, standing erect in an archipelago of sand that had been laid atop the unwieldly asphalt of what had once been the parking lot for St. Mary's Hill Hospital. Soon, ten of the shovels would be in the hands of hospital officials for the ceremonial dirt-turning act, a photo-op the genesis of which predates not just the camera, but the builders of the pyramids, as well.
But not until the second blessing was given by Rev. Tim Kitzke, the pastor of Three Holy Women Parish.
Father Tim carried a large volume that, in the hands of Protestant clergy, would have been the Holy Bible.
However, his was emblazoned in gold letters with the title, Book of Blessings.
"There is a blessing for everything," said the charismatic priest. "And a schedule of stipends for that blessing," he added, to uproarious laughter.
He then sprinkled Holy Water -- specially blessed on Easter Sunday -- from a little container, pocket sized, that he carries around with him and blessed the site and the work to be done.
After that, the shovel pantomime followed at which point the guests were treated to a buffet catered by Louise's Restaurant, located at the corner of Jefferson and Wells. The food consisted of cold little beef or ham sandwiches, a corn slaw (I guess you'd call it that) and plump strawberries wearing chocolate tuxedos.
--Michael Horne

ANOTHER POST FOR REV KITZKE

The Archbishop has tossed another responsibility onto the plate of Rev. Tim Kitzke, the pastor of the merged churches of St. Hedwig's, St. Rita's and Holy Rosary, the east side triumvirate that now operates as Three Holy Women Congregation.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan has asked Kitzke to also serve as pastor of St. Mary Church, 836 N. Broadway, the nation's oldest German Catholic parish, which goes by the name "Old St. Mary Church," which has always conjured for me the image of a very elderly virgin.
(The "Old Church of St. Mary's" would be a more dignified name, and would be appropriate for a building constructed in the 1840s, before all the wannabe St. Mary's churches started cropping up all over Christendom. Probably sounds a bit too Anglican for the Catholics.)
"This is not a merger," Kitzke said. "I've gone from mergers to mergers and acquisitions."
Reverend Kitzke will be the guest of honor Monday, April 24th, at a cocktail party reception hosted by Atty. Patrick O. Dunphy at his fabulous lakefront highrise condominium. The party will kick off a drive to complete raising the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to replace the 120-year old copper roof of St. Hedwig's, located at the intersection of Brady and Humboldt.
--Michael Horne

CONNECTOR RESOLUTION FINALLY REVEALED

Three weeks and five days after it was introduced, Common Council Resolution 051610 finally has some text to it.
And, what a whopper the text has proven to be, including 24 "whereas" clauses, one "resolved" and nine "further resolved" clauses, one of which offers suggestions on the route an expanded connector system should use. That's thinking ahead, since we don't even have an existing connector system to expand as it is.
As you know, milwaukeeworld has written many items on the proposed connector, which you can read elsewhere on this site. (Use the handy Google search bar for assistance.)
The Common Council Steering and Rules Committee will hear plans for the connector at its meeting on Thursday, April 27th 2006.
--Michael Horne

BITS AND PIECES

Dear Reader –

This has been a topsy-turvy weather weekend, and many of us have had family obligations. I have survived both the weather and the family obligations, and hope to get a good head of steam going here at milwaukeeworld.

I thought I might figuratively clear my desk in the hopes it might lead to a literal clearing of my desk, which is a hard, level surface located somewhere below all of the stuff I refer to when I write these billets doux to you.

--Michael Horne

COUNTY WRITES BAD LEASE

Firstly, here is a certified example of our county government at work. There is a restaurant at Lawrence J. Timmerman Airport named El Greco. The restaurant’s owners have asked Milwaukee County , the landlord to rent 8,510 of airport land to the firm for the purpose of expanding its parking facilities.

The county agreed to rent the land at a rate of 23.55 cents per square foot per annum for a period of ten years, with five ten year options. Let us imagine a world of the future, where in 2066 the lease of a parking lot at Timmerman Field will finally lapse. Do we really imagine Timmerman will last that long? And where is that long-promised county-funded study of Timmerman’s future. (I’ve written about it in the past.)

The Timmerman / El Greco story gets weird when you read the County Board’s resolution in support of the lease. It says, “Rental for the 8,510 square feet of land on which the hangar is located shall be at 23.55 cents per square foot per annum.”

Hangar? Who said anything about a hangar?

Since the county is well known for slipping bits of nonsense into its resolutions, (just ask Tom Ament and hiscronies), I called for the “what gives” and learned from Brian Dranzik, a county board research analyst that the word “hangar” was apparently lifted from some boilerplate legal terminology. The word “parking” should have been substituted.

Milwaukeeworld is delighted to point out the error.

--Michael Horne

SHEPHERD EXPRESS CHANGE

The new Shepherd Express is out, and as milwaukeeworld told you last week, Doug Hissom is no longer associated with the formerly alternative publication. The title of “Senior Investigative” writer-reporter, which he held is, quite understandably vacant. Louis Fortis remains the Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, with David Luhrssen retaining the number two spot as Arts & Entertainment Editor. … Shepherd Express Contributing Editor / Dining, Jeff Beutner, who is among the very most traveled people in the city, returned Sunday from a three week journey to Bali, Hong Kong and Los Angeles, checking up on some of his favorite haunts.

-- Michael Horne

GIOVANNI’S UPDATE

You learned about the closing of Giovanni’s Restaurant here last week, and so did the producers of Channel 4’s newscasts. The NBC affiliate did a piece Friday about the closing of the restaurant, and milwaukeeworld asked anchor Carole Meekins if she would link to the story on this website to the station’s website as a courtesy. (God forbid television news programs would actually credit the source of their “news” in their stories).

Carole said her producers told her , “no.” “It is the policy of the Journal Communications affiliate to only link to other news sources when station personnel are unable to independently verify the news stories,” she told me.

She admitted the show’s producer first became aware of the story of Giovanni’s closing from visiting this site. But linking to the story – out of the question!

Perhaps I could base a week’s worth of reporting on television news stories, independently confirm them, and post them on this site. But then, who would want to read it?

--Michael Horne

TIM CARPENTER UPDATE

You learned here last week that Sen. Timothy Carpenter was busted in Racine County by the State Patrol for “Reckless Driving – Endangering Safety.” Carpenter still has not responded to requests for comment on the incident. He entered a “written not guilty plea” and is set to see the judge on Friday, April 21^st. Milwaukeeworld still awaits response from the State Patrol for its request for copies of the citation issued to Carpenter for this misadventure, which has not yet appeared in the press. The Madison-based website www.wispolitics.com did pick up on the story, driving many hundreds of readers, many of them state employees, to this site. The link is appreciated.

--Michael Horne

A BRIT IN OUR MIDST

GREENSTREET PROFILE REVEALS WIT

OF COLLEGE DEAN / CITY PLANNER

“Eyes on the horizon all the time. Think big. Think 40 years down the road. That’s why I look vacant most of the time.”

--Dr. Bob Greenstreet, Dean School of Architecture and Urban Planning, UW-M;

City Planner, City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as quoted in the April 2006 Wisconsin Builder.

The Wisconsin Builder Magazine is on the shelves – well, not really, since the publication is distributed bundled up with The Daily Reporter Newspaper – but anyway, the April edition is available by linking above where you can read a most candid, entertaining and revealing portrait of Dr. Robert Greenstreet, the London-born, self-described slacker who took a talent for loafing and idling and somehow parlayed it into one – or make that two – of the most important development positions in the city. The portrait was written by Sean Ryan who asked Greenstreet a number of questions about his background and his philosophy. Greenstreet is hilarious. Wait until you see who his favorite “fictional” character is; find out what he does every morning at 7 a.m. and learn what he thinks about fast food in this entertaining and revealing portrait.

--Michael Horne

MUELLER COMMUNICATIONS MOVES

H. Carl Mueller and his partners at Mueller Communications have moved to new digs in a 7,000 square foot building at 1749 N. Prospect Avenue, at the corner of E. Royall Place, and just across the street from the Charles Allis Museum. Mueller and his pals did much of the heavy lifting themselves, including during the weekend. He says he could still use a number of fireplace mantles for the building, since the original ones have been lost to the mists of time. The building recently held attorneys’ offices. Before that it was headquarters for an advertising firm, and before that it was an osteopathic hospital. The building dates to 1876; it has been considerably altered over the years. Mueller moves to the Brady Street neighborhood site from a location in the P&V Atlas facility at 700 W. Virginia Avenue.

--Michael Horne

BAUMAN OFFERS SUBSTITUTE CONNECTOR PLAN

Bauman Offers Connector Substitute

Ald. Robert Bauman offered his file, Common Council #051714 as a substitute to Common Council file 051610, the Milwaukee Connector matter.

As I have mentioned before, the 051610 file, which is to be debated by the Common Council Steering and Rules Committee on Thursday, April 27^th 2006, still contains absolutely no text.

Bauman more than makes up for that oversight with his filing, which would materially change the nature of the connector proposal in the following ways.

According to the text of Bauman’s proposal, file 051714, if adopted, would call for:

“1. Extending the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail service within Milwaukee County to serve the 30th Street Rail Corridor and the West Allis Air Line Rail Corridor.

2. Using the $91.5 million in federal funds reserved for public transit improvements in the Milwaukee area to construct commuter rail routes within Milwaukee County to serve the 30th Street Rail Corridor and the West Allis Air Line Rail Corridor.

3. The development of transit-oriented residential and commercial developments along the 30th Street Rail Corridor and along the West Allis Air Line Rail Corridor, as well as the construction of commuter rail passenger stations at various locations, including the corporate headquarters of Miller Brewing Company and Harley Davidson Corporation, Tower Automotive site, the Master Lock and DRS manufacturing facilities, Miller Park, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, State Fair Park and the Milwaukee County Zoo.

This resolution also authorizes and directs all City departments to take the actions necessary to expand the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Commuter Rail Study to include the 30th Street and West Allis Air Line corridors and to ensure that the $91.5 million in federal funding is used to construct commuter rail routes serving these corridors.

Finally, this resolution directs the City's representative on the Milwaukee Transit Connector Study's Steering Committee to vote in favor of the ‘no build’ option and to vote against moving any ‘build’ option into the preliminary engineering phase.”

Bauman’s frequent criticisms of the Connector proposal have drawn a response from Willie Hines, Jr. the council president and Chairman of the Steering and Rules Committee. That committee is composed of the chairs of all regular council committees, including Bauman, who as chair of the Public Works Committee, would ordinarily have heard the connector proposal had not Hines yanked it away from him.

Hines wrote a letter today acknowledging the detractors of the Connector project, presumably Bauman, and suggested the concerns of the detractors should be addressed. Hines’ letter asks Peter Beitzel, Chairman of the Milwaukee Connector Study SteeringCommittee to “address concerns surrounding the viability of the Connector project."

Hines attached a document from Peter Beitzel, the chairman of the connector study addressing some of Bauman's concerns.

Bauman then fired back with his retort, including calling some of Beitzel's claims "ridiculous."

The battle is joined!

--Michael Horne